The first Africa Travel Week
taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) got off
to a successful start on 28th April with ILTM Africa (International
Luxury Travel Market), IBTM Africa (Incentives, Business Travel & Meetings)
and WTM Africa (World Travel Market) which starts today, 2nd May. When
the show closes tomorrow, the whole week will have delivered to Africa over
6,500 one-to-one meetings providing an impressive economic impact on the
continent’s leisure travel, luxury tourism, and the MICE/business travel
sector. All three events are subject to
an independent ABC audit of statistics after the shows to ensure full
transparency for the industry.
“More important than numbers is the impact
that these events have had on those involved.
The comments from exhibitors, and buyers have shown that Africa Travel
Week and all three events are clearly a vital component to this continent’s
travel industry and we go into 2015 with the support of the exhibitors and
buyers for next year’s event”, says Sugen Pillay, Business Development
Director, Thebe Reed Exhibitions.
Suppliers and buyers have praised
the three events as an “excellent new opportunity for Africa’s business
development, knowledge enhancement and exclusive networking” in the region but with
global relevance.
ILTM Africa exhibitor, Matt Biden
representing The Royal Portfolio, said the luxury travel show was better than
expected. “We love the international aspect to the Hosted Buyer
programme. It has even allowed us to put names to so many international faces
and after all, being at ILTM Africa has now saved us on the costs of travel to go and see them!”
IBTM Africa Hosted Buyer Daniel Wood, President of the
Freestyle Football Federation, United Kingdom, commented, “IBTM Africa has been a fantastic experience for me. We have an
unconventional product but we got a lot out of the two days with very
productive meetings. The IBTM Forum was informative with some really
interesting speakers. It was great to be able to network and chat with local
experienced practitioners who can really testify that this is a market that we
should invest in for more events and incentives.”
WTM Africa exhibitor William
Cook, of Cooks Tours says he is “amazed with the interest he has already seen
in the show. My diary is absolutely fully booked and that has never happened
before.”
The final event for the inaugural
Africa Travel Week, World Travel Market (WTM) Africa, kicked off today, with
over 350 exhibiting companies bringing the world to Africa and promoting Africa
to the world’s leading source markets over two days.
The culmination of a joint partnership between global
events giant Reed Travel Exhibitions and African events specialist Thebe Reed
Exhibitions, Africa Travel Week is dedicated to delivering real business
opportunities in a focused way over a period of a week, providing a key
industry platform that offers all travel industry professionals the chance to
engage in real value business conversations, meet new contacts, exchange ideas,
share best practice and learn and network in a fresh new environment.
“This is the first time we have ever undertaken to bring all three of
our global brands together in one country in one week. Such a powerful business
proposition not only shows the travel industry the diversity of this country’s
travel offering to the world’s leading source markets, but it gives Africa the
opportunity to be a global player in the leisure, business and luxury tourism
sectors. We want to thank the City of
Cape Town, the CTICC and Wesgro for their partnership and support in launching
all three shows. We believe this is a
truly unique proposition and this week has already created some staggering
business opportunities as well as giving Cape Town its own introduction to many
who have not been here before,” said Sugen.
Dates for Africa Travel Week 2015
are:
·
ILTM
Africa: 13-15 April 2015
·
IBTM
Africa: 13 – 15 April 2015
·
WTM
Africa: 15 – 17 April 2015
To
find out more about WTM Africa visit www.wtmafrica.com
